Fabric sheet feeding device



1966 M. HADDAD 3,291,480

FABRIC SHEET FEEDING DEVICE Filed June 5, 1964 INVENTOR.

'l MANUEL HADDAD ATTORNEV United States Patent 3,291,480 FABRIC SHEET FEEDING DEVICE Manuel Haddad, Teziutlan, Puebla, Mexico Filed June 3, 1964, Ser. No. 372,297 8 Claims. (Cl. 271-1) This invention relates in general to devices for the production handling of sheets of fabric or the like and in particular to a sheet fabric handling machine in combination wit-h a sewing machine whereby individual sheets of material may be fed from a stack of sheets of material to supply the opera-tor of the machine with a single sheet of material from the material handling device for manual placement of said sheet in proper sewing position under the presser foot of the sewing machine preparatory to applying a label, pocket, zipper or other item of similar nature to the sheet of material.

In the garment making industry, for example, as well as in other industries where a sewing process is involved, high speed production work makes it mandatory that the different movements of the sewing machine operator be reduced to a minimum. For this reason it is highly desirable that, in a sewing operation, a stock of the same size material be placed within reach of the sewing machine operator where single sheets of the material can be fed one at a time for positioning on the sewing machine for the sewing operation.

Where the sheets of fabric material are of different sizes or textures it is desirable that the fabric holding device be capable of various adjustments so that the proper relationship between the fabric holding device and the sewing machine be attained, regardless of the size of the sheet of material and the proper feeding of individual sheets be accomplished with material of any texture or thickness.

It is therefore one object of my invention to provide a fabric handling machine in combination with a sewing machine whereby the fabric handling machine is spaced from the sewing machine and finished sheets of fabric may gravitate into the space between said machines.

It is another object of my invention to provide a fabric handling machine in which one edge of a plurality of sheets of fabric may be grasped and held by a springurged member while the remaining portion of the fabric is free to be manipulated by the fabric handling machine and the sewing machine operator.

It is still another object of my invention to provide a table for the reception of the free portion of the sheets of material preparatory to individual feeding for placement in sewing position on the sewing machine.

And one more object of my invention is to provide a fabric sheet feeding arrangement comprising a pivoted swinging arm, the lower end of which rests on the top sheet of fabric material to be sewed, and solenoid actuated means for swinging said arm.

Another object of my invention is to provide longitudinal, vertical, swinging and weight adjustment of the swinging arm for precision feeding of the sheets of fabric material.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a friction or nonskid surface between the bottom piece of fabric to be fed to the sewing machine and the table or material receiving plate of the fabric work holder to prevent undue movement of the entire stack of fabric material While each piece of material is being fed.

Other objects and advantages as well as the construction and operation of my invention will be apparent by reference to the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric View of the fabric holding and feeding device constructed in accordance with my invention, and

FIG. 2 is an elevational view, partly in section, showing the fabric holding and feeding device in its working relation to a sewing machine.

Referring now to the drawing by numerals of reference, 1 indicates a work table which may be a single unit hav ing suitable supports or standards 2, a sewing machine 3 being located in spaced relation to the material handling and feeding device 4, with a suitable aperture 5 being provided between the sewing machine and material handling and feeding device for the purpose hereinafter specified.

The material hold-ing and feeding device 4 comprises a material holding assembly 6 and a material feeding assembly 7.

A base 8 may be securely fastened to the table 1 by suitable fastening members 9, said .base 8 having a central longitudinal guide 10 supported in spaced relation to base '8.

The material holding assembly 6 comprises a housing 11 with groove 12 in the bottom portion 13, said housing being longitudinally slidable on the guide 10 and adapted to be locked in adjusted position thereon by locking member 14 operated by lever 15, said locking member bearing against the bottom of guide 10 when the lever 15 is moved to one side of slot 15 in the housing.

The bottom 13, sides 16 and top 17 of the housing 11 define a chamber 18 in which is located material clamping means comprising a lower element 19 suitably secured to the bottom portion 13 of the housing 11 and provided with an upwardly curved lip 20. Spaced above the element 19 is pivoted element 21 provided with downwardly curved lip 22 adapted to register with lip 20 to grasp therebetween the edge of a supply of material 23 to be sewed. Spring 24 urges lip 22 into material clamping position.

A lever 26 Working in inverted L-shaped slot 27 may be employed to hold element 21 in open position for the initial insertion of a supply of material, the lever 26 be ing in locked position when in leg 27' of L-slot 27. When the material is inserted in proper position in chamber 18, the lever 26 can be pushed out of slot 27' when the spring 24 will force arm 25 upwardly and lever 26 downwardly in slot 27.

The front edge 28 of housing 11 is preferably curved as shown, and the housing may be provided wit-h a material receiving platform having a nonskid surface 29 for the purpose hereinafter specified.

A bifurcated extension 30 of the housing 11 straddles standard 31, which is part of the material feeding assembly 7. The base of standard 31 is chamfered to fit chamfered slot 32 in guide 10, a suitable locking element 33 being provided to lock the standard 31 in longitudinally adjusted position.

A substantially horizontal beam 34 is pivoted to a depending bracket 35 which is vertically slidable and adjustable in relation to standard 31, a suitable locking element 36 being provided in the standard 31 and passing through slot 37 in the bracket 35 to engage threaded member 38.

The beam 34 carries at one end thereof a pivoted depending arm 39, the lower end of which may carry material engaging elements 40 in the form of a wire or other suitable bristle type member or any suitable nonskid material capable of engaging and moving a sheet of material.

A solenoid 41 is located at the other end of the beam 34 and a link 42 connects the solenoid with the pivoted depending arm 39 through an adjusting screw 43 to adjust the solenoid action and swing of the arm 39.

For maximum efliciency in operation it is highly desirable to balance beam 34 on its pivot connection with the depending arm 39 whereby said arm 39 and material engaging elements 40 will rest with the proper contact weight to move only one sheet of material at a time, and toward this end I have provided counterbalance weights 44 adjustably movable by rotation of threaded screw 45 carried at the solenoid end of beam 34.

A switch 46 connects conductor 47 to the solenoid 41 and to the switch 48 below the table 1, a pivoted knee pressure operated element 49 being adapted to close said switch 48 at will by the sewing machine operator. The switch 48 may be spring urged to open position whereby the circuit to the solenoid will be opened when pressure on the element 49 is removed. Vertical adjustment of the element 49 may be effected by collar 50 on rod 51.

Operation In using my sheet fabric handling machine one edge of a supply of material 23 is inserted into the chamber 18 after first manipulating lever 26 to place it in leg 27' of inverted L-slot 27 for the purpose of separating and locking apart the lips 20 and 22 of the elements 19 and 21, respectively, against the force of spring 24.

With the sheets of material in proper position the lever 26 is forced out of leg 27' of L-slot 27 and the lip 22 is forced downwardly against the sheets of material to hold same in clamped position.

The free ends of the sheets of material are now swung up and placed neatly on the nonskid surface 29. This surface will keep the bottom sheet of material from sliding on the material holding assembly 6 and it has been found that between adjacent pieces of fabric material there is a certain amount of friction so if the lowermost sheet of material is held from sliding all of the sheets of material will be maintained in nonsliding relation to each other up to a certain degree. If the top surface of the material holding assembly 6 were smooth, all of the sheets of material would slide off the material holding assembly simultaneously.

Element 46 with its wire or other type bristles engages the uppermost sheet of material and the stroke of arm 39 and pressure on the material as well as its position of contact are all adjustable by various means hereinbefore specified. Adjustment can be made for any of various types and sizes of materials and once set the device operates satisfactorily until it is necessary to reset for another size or type material.

With switch 46 in on position the operator of the machine need only close switch 48 by moving his knee against element 49 and the solenoid 41 will operate to quickly swing arm 39 to flip the top sheet of material 23 outwardly and upwardly where the sewing machine operator can receive it on his outstretched palm to manually place said sheet into sewing position under the presser foot 52 of the sewing machine. At this time the sewing machine operator may introduce a label or any other item to be sewed to the piece of material and proceed with the sewing operation.

As each sewing operation is completed on each piece of material the operator manually removes the completed piece of material and moves it downwardly into aperture 5, or the system described in my copending application, Serial No. 372,296 now Patent Number 3,257,- 978 filed June 3, 1964, may be employed, in which a jet of air, triggered by opening of a valve by the sewing machine operator, will force the sheet of material downwardly in hanging position in the aperture 5. At this time actuation of element 49 will flip another piece of material onto operators palm.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a new and novel assembly for facilitating high production sewing in which single sheets of stacked material, one edge of which is held secured, can be flipped off the stack onto the palm of the sewing machine operator as he needs them by his manipulation of a solenoid actuating switch. Various adjustments are provided for different sizes and textures of materials and for precision adjustments to facilitate proper performance of the material feeding function of the device.

Obviously, changes in form, proportion and details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention and I reserve all rights to such changes as come within the scope of these specifications and the claims which follow.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a sheet fabric feeding device, a sheet material receiving means, a clamping means removably holding one edge of the sheet material in nonmovable position in the receiving means and leaving the remaining portion of the material free, a material receiving platform located adjacent and above the receiving means, said platform being provided with a nonskid surface thereon, the free portion of the material extending upwardly and in reverse direction and being receivable on the nonskid surface of said platform, material feeding means supported above said platform and engaging said material, and operator controlled means for actuating the material feeding means.

2. The structure as specified in claim 1, said material feeding means including a swinging arm, brush like elements located at the lower end of the arm and contacting the sheet material, intermittently operable arm swinging means connected to the arm, movement of the arm causing removal of the free portion of the top sheet of material from the material on the platform.

3. The structure as specified in claim 2, a substantially horizontally disposed beam, said swinging arm being pivotally supported adjacent one end of said beam, a standard intermediate the ends of the beam and pivotally carrying said beam, and counterbalance means carried by the end of the beam opposite the swinging arm.

4. The structure as specified in claim 3, and counterbalance adjustment means to vary the pressure of the swinging arm on the material.

5. The structure as specified in claim 3, said operator controlled means for actuating the material feeding means including a solenoid carried by the beam, and connecting means between the solenoid and the swinging arm to rock said arm upon each actuation of the solenoid.

6. The structure as specified in claim 5, said connecting means between the solenoid and the swinging arm being adjustable in length for adjusting the horizontal position of the brush like elements on the swinging arm on the material on the platform.

7. The structure as specified in claim 3, a depending bracket carried by the beam, said bracket being removably attached to the standard, and means for vertically adjusting the bracket on the standard.

8. The structure as specified in claim 3, including a base, said sheet material receiving means being slidably adjustable on the base, said standard supporting the beam being slidably adjustable on the base, and independent means for locking the sheet material receiving means and the standard to the base in adjusted positions.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 295,955 4/1884 Thiclscher 27l14 2,561,223 7/1951 Peckham 27142 2,713,486 7/1955 Aydlett 271-42 2,894,744 7/1959 Schulze 27151 2,919,129 12/1959 Sjostrom 271-33 2,940,210 6/1960 Aulds 10890 3,083,961 4/1963 Arbter 27l33 3,257,978 6/1966 Haddad 1122 M. HENSON WOOD, IR., Primary Examiner.

C. H. SPADERNA, I. ERLICH, Assistant Examiners. 

1. IN A SHEET FABRIC FEEDING DEVICE, A SHEET MATERIAL RECEIVING MEANS, A CLAMPING MEANS REMOVABLY HOLDING ONE EDGE OF THE SHEET MATERIAL IN NONMOVABLE POSITION IN THE RECEIVING MEANS AND LEAVING THE REMAINING PORTION OF THE MATERIAL FREE, A MATERIAL RECEIVING PLATFORM LOCATED ADJACENT AND ABOVE THE RECEIVING MEANS, SAID PLATFORM BEING PROVIDED WITH A NONSKID SURFACE THEREON, THE FREE PORTION OF THE MATERIAL EXTENDING UPWARDLY AND IN REVERSE DIRECTION AND BEING RECEIVABLE ON THE NONSKID SURFACE OF SAID PLATFORM, MATERIAL FEEDING MEANS SUPPORTED ABOVE 